On Wednesday around 100 protestors from across the region marched from Capitol Hill to the White House to protest about government plans to conduct raids to seize and then deport undocumented immigrants who have recently illegally arrived in the United States.
The march by the protestors commenced in front of the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee on South Capitol Street, where they held signs with messages such as ‘You want my vote? Say no to deportations!’ and chanting “No more deportation”.
“There are a lot of families in danger, if they were deported, because of the violence in their countries,” says 19-year-old Stafford resident Jennifer Romero, who was with the protestors. “We are going to be out, and we are always going to keep fighting for our rights.”
The Washington Post last week revealed the deportation plan that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement is expected to carry out. This marks the first major attempt to deport the undocumented immigrant families that have surged across the US-Mexico border since the middle of last year. Over 100,000 families from Central America, not including unaccompanied immigrant minors, have fled to the United States since 2014 to escape violence in Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and other countries in the region.
The Washington Post noted that those targeted would be those already ordered to be deported by immigration judges; however, this has not prevented anger from immigrants, who believe the Obama administration has betrayed them.